Page 26 of No Business Like Snow Business

“So you don’t know who they are?” Harvey asked.

“Sorry,” Travis said. “The guy in the cap might be Matty? Matty Jessup. Hard to tell though. I’ll ask Linda and Bob when I go visit them after this. See if maybe they’ve got any more ideas for you.”

“Oh, they called you about the fence?”

“Not yet,” Travis said. He rested his hands on his tool belt, looking suddenly shifty. “I got an email. Not exactly sure who it was from...”

“Oh!” Harvey exclaimed. “Was it from the Secret Santa?”

“It was anonymous, which I guess is the whole point.” Travis gave another shrug. “Anyhow, Casper’s a little escape artist. I’d hate it if he got hit by a car or something, when the whole thing could be prevented by just fixing the hole in the fence.”

“There’s a Secret Santa going around town arranging for stuff to get fixed for people,” Harvey told me.“Or just leaving notes and stuff to cheer people up. I wish I knew who it was.”

Jesus. This town was so fuckingnice. They had to be sacrificing tourists in pagan blood rituals for the winter solstice or something, right? Or whoever was in charge of Ginger’s Breads was putting some sort of illegal happy drugs in the sugar cookies.

“So you’ve had a mystery in front of you this whole time, but you had to wait for me to show up to start crackingcases?” I teased. I spoke easily and without thinking, but then immediately felt awkward. Like I’d said it to prove to myself, or Travis, or Harvey, or all of us, that Ifithere. With Harvey and Travis going on about Bob and Linda’s fence and the town’s Secret Santa, I’d started to get that outsider-looking-in feeling again, and had needed to show that I had a connection to this place, that Harvey and I were friends, that I could participate in this conversation too.

To my relief, Harvey grinned. “Ah, well. I guess a Secret Santa has a right to remain secret.”

Travis snorted. “Whoever they are, I have a feeling they’re behind all the new kids’ books at the library. My daughter is obsessed withThe Grumpus.My throat’s sore from doing the voice.”

“Worth it,” Harvey said.

“It is.” Travis rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry I couldn’t be more help to you. But like I said, I’ll ask Linda and Bob about Matty Jessup.”

“We seriously appreciate it,” Harvey said. “And I really am sorry about Gabe. Linda and Bob said you guys had a falling out before you went to college.”

“Yeah.” Another long sigh, and another sweep of his brow. “I asked him to stay in Christmas Falls. But, like I said, he was running from something. I guess he felt like he needed to keep moving. Lot of times over the years I would have liked to have my best friend by my side. When I got married, when the kids came...” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I just wish he’d stayed, is all.”

I wondered why he hadn’t. Maybe, like me, he looked at how pretty Christmas Falls was, how nice all the people were, and knew instinctively that he didn’t belong here. Or maybe, like Travis said, he just needed to keep running. I wished his story had a happier ending.

“This is a weird question,” I said, but it was probably no weirder than anything else we’d sprung on him already. “But is there a reason Bob didn’t like Gabe?”

“Oh, Bob loved Gabe,” Travis said. “While he was here, at least.” He snorted, a flush rising on his cheeks. “After Gabe left town, Bob caught me wailing like a little kid into a popcorn machine. I was way too old to be crying like that, at least I thought so, but Bob said he remembered how hard it was to lose your friends, and it didn’t matter if you were eight or eighteen or eighty. Then he rolled his trouser leg up and showed me his wooden leg.” His expression clouded. “I’d forgotten he was a veteran. Anyway, I guess he was angry at Gabe for leaving after our big fight, and for not saying goodbye.”

On the drive back to downtown, Harvey and I were both a little subdued.

“Are you upset it was a dead end?” Harvey asked me as we drove through a quiet residential street.

“No, I don’t think so.” I drummed my fingers on my knee. “I’d hoped we’d find out Gabe was Freddy and get some answers, but at the same time, I’m glad it wasn’t him. It sounds as though Gabe, whoever he was, had a rough life.”

Harvey hummed. “It’s sad. Especially because Travis wanted him to stay.”

“Maybe he thought there wasn’t anything for him here,” I said. How many times since being here had I told myself that Christmas Falls wasn’t real? The truth was, maybe it wasn’t the town that was a fake. Maybe it was me. Had Gabe felt like he’d fallen into some weird mirror universe when he’d arrived in Christmas Falls?

It was like being on vacation. Sometimes you let your mind wander. You dreamed of moving here, buying a place, having every day be as good as your time here. But it wasn’t reality. It couldn’t be. That vacation shine would wear off the second youhad to pay bills or go to work or, in the case of Christmas Falls, shovel snow out of your driveway.

Harvey let out a long breath.

I glanced at him. “So, about the kiss.”

Harvey jolted, jerking the steering wheel.

“I don’t want to die in Christmas Falls, Harvey!” I exclaimed as the tires scraped the gutter. Fortunately, we were only doing about twenty, and the street was empty of pedestrians. There were a few massive festive displays in danger though, if Harvey crashed. There would be Santas and reindeer scattered for miles.

“Why would you bring it up when I’m driving?” he asked, clenching the steering wheel more firmly as he got us back on our way.

“I thought you could drive and talk at the same time!”

---